Tara Krause :: Biointensive Suburban

Tara Krause Visual Artist

Wildmix Cultivation :: Biointensive Suburban (2006)

	In the shadows of Orange County theme parks, in the backyard of a suburban tract, as an adjunct to the studio, a holon rehabilitating the coastal scrub wildness attempts a bio-farming experiment in W-Class IV aesthetics. Week by week, while another war is being pumped with nuclear options obscene beyond illegality, and the generals singing, the evolution of wild-mix natural Buddhist farming rules laid out by microbiologist Masanobu Fukuoka unfold. Seed by seed fed by the rich compost of our waste, a natural system emerges with its intentional yield the cultivation of human beings.
	Week 12 (1 July 2006) The original intent of this project was to record the phenomena, process and insights week by week, a conceptual art project per se. The execution of that description will have to happen during the fall planting, because this springtime, these three growing beds absorbed my full attention. Perhaps by intent but more by gift, they became my teacher. I marvel with each daily drala unfolding: From the time each small shoot sprouted ..... to when each densely packed plant took root and created a green velvet canopy over a microclimate...to when they began to flower.... when the pollinators showed up (various species of wasps, flies, bees, butterflies and even hummingbirds) .... when the beneficial predators created their niches (green lynx spiders on each squash plant, ravenous lady bird bug larva and then adults, assassin bugs and then stink bugs with almost Art Deco patternings on their backs, and the family of opposums) amongst the flowering companion plants... and when I would pluck baby snap pea pods and radishes, carrots, basils and oreganos, greens and raspberries and feed them to my extended family in summer night dinners in the studio alla fresco... when I struggled to come up with new recipes for the surfeit of zucchini and squash (much to my chagrin, the family of opposum are polite suburban tractites, they have only supped at my compost pit)... to the mocking bird that took up residence on the telephone pole and wires to warble, harangue and dance.... to the anticipation of lush ripening heirloom tomatoes (Chiapas, Costoluto, Howard German, Romas galore, Zapatistas, Thesolonikis and Paul Robesons), to the luxuriant evening smells of warm wet earth, humus generating richness.... And slowing, generatively, I became part of the emerging ecosystems. My role was to water, neither primary nor ancillary, solely participatory. So in embracing that role and the 4 simple rules of no-till, no-weed, no-chemicals, and only organic open pollinated seeds, complex results came into being. I may have become a wildmix natural farmer, absorbed in the 100 mile local food movement, sitting now in the shade of my suburban holon looking to the future permaculture challenge: could "I" feed a family off a suburban plot? And then catching the use of anthrocentric "I", I turned to the growing beds and suggested, perhaps "we" could... Ah, the simple rules of W-Class aesthetics... I promise you more photos later.
	Week One (16 April 2006) So last week, I planted all the seeds with a 4 inch deep compost coat of worm castings, kelp, fish heads, chicken manure and scads of promised nemotoads. There seemed a bit of serendipity involved in planting on the convergence of Pesach, Buddha's and Mohammed's birthdays, and the Christian Easter. After it was all planted, the manuals came (um, when in doubt read the instructions, eh?). Hopefully, I followed the principles of: deep soil preparation (double digging), compost piling, close plant spacing, and "synergistic planting of ccrop combinations". The next step will be green manure carbon-efficient crops grown on the other side of the yard. Maybe, I'll try seedballs. See http://www.seedballs.org Most of the packets say 7-14 days germination. So far, there are a few sprouts. You can almost hear each one come popping out of the compost cover: vibrant green pulsing through the wet burnt umber surface. I hold my breath in anticipation. The last time I grew a seed was in grade school in a milk container.
	Week Zero (8 April 2006) After several years of allowing the backyard to return to its original coastal scrub-ness complete with endangered gnat catchers doing acrobatics and the results-blessing of a nighthawk, I have watched my front yard native garden begin to take hold. The next step in this New Yorker's transformation from being a philodrendron-killing urbanite is practicing the challenge of growing one's food in an ecologically beneficial and sustainable way. This project charts the process of this unfolding. Japanese microbiologist Masanobu Fukuoka developed a marvelous approach to mini-farming called wild-mix cultivation based on the Buddhist premise of "becoming one with nature" in which a farmer adapts herself to nature: "To do that, you have to gaze at a rice plant and listen to the words from the plant. If you understand what the rice says, you just adjust your heart to that of the rice plants and raise them. In reality, we do not have to raise them. They will grow. We just serve nature. ..When I say gaze at a rice plant or stare at its true form, it does not mean to make an observation or to contemplate the rice plant, which makes it an object different from yourself. It is very difficult to explain in words. In a sense, it is important that you become the rice plant. Just as you, as the subject of gazing, have to disapppear. If you do not understand what you should do or what I am talking about, you should be absorbed in taking care of the rice without looking aside. If you could work wholeheartedly without yourself, that is enough. Giving up your ego is the shortest way to unification with nature." With the precept of "the ultimate goal of farming is not the growing of crops, but the cultivation and perfection of human beings," he developed a pragmatic set of simple rules whereby the farmer becomes imbedded in the system (versus imposing on or controlling the system): no tilling, no fertilizer, no weeding and no pesticides or herbicides. See Larry Haftl's fantastic site for more information on Fukuoka: http://larryhaftl.com/ffo
	So, fired with the desire of being only part of the initial conditions of a wild system, I armed myself with all sorts of biointenstive mini-farming info (overload, sure, but then this is the recording of the results of the experiment, eh?!). First stop was the great organization of Ecology Action from the Common Ground Mini-Farm in Willets, CA @ http://www.bountifulgardens.org Using their site, I ordered and planted a swath of seeds, see the bed design to the left. Bed 1 (the southern most growing bed) contains: Black Beauty Zucchini (Cucurbita pepo) Early Straightneck Squash True Gold Sweet Corn (Zea mays) Greek Oregano (Origanum heracleoticum) Lemon Balm (Melissa officinalis) English Thyme (Thymus vulgaris) Bed 2 contains: Blue Lake Bush Beans Zapotec Pleated Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), heritage Zapotec, southern Mexico Red Calabash Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), Chiapas heritage documented in a 1793 painting by Raphael Paele in Pennsylvania Black Plum Paste Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum), heritage Russian variety English Lavender (Lavendual angustifolia) Coriander Cilantro (Coriandrum sativum) Holy Basil Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) Bed 3 contains: Sweet Valentine Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) Butterking Lettuce (Lactuca sativa) Little Finger Carrot (Daucus carota sativus) Nantes Carrot (Daucus carota sativus) Chives Scarlet White Tip Radish Scotland Leek (Allium ampeloprasum) Sugar Pod Snow Pea (Pisum sativum) Evergreen Bunching Onion Cilantro Corriander All 3 beds have the companion plants of: Orange Zinger Calendula (Calendula officinalis) Nasturtium Mix (Tropaeolum majus) French Broacade Marigold (Tagetes patula)